Microsoft 365 Community Experts from the field, 5 Jun 2023

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From YouTube: Introduction to Mobile Offline for Power Apps | Build offline canvas apps

Description

This video is a step-by-step tutorial on how to setup your Canvas Power Apps for Mobile offline scenarios. You can easily enable canvas apps that are based on Dataverse for offline-first scenarios with simple switches and a canvas control. This feature is useful for field and remote workers or anyone with spotty or no access to the internet.

Basic offline-first apps are easy to build. There is no need to use PowerFx’s SaveData or LoadData functions or manage offline data with complex, collection schemes in PowerFx. Just build your app with normal Power Fx formulas and the offline features handle all the complexity for you.

Power Apps Mobile offline-first means that all the data you may need when offline is copied to your mobile device. This requires initial network access to download the PowerApps data. Once you have your data, you only work with the data on your local device all the time. This is true both when you are online and offline.

Power Apps Offline first without an internet connection: Dataverse Table Data is downloaded, and all changes are saved to your mobile device. When the internet connection is restored, the changes are automatically synced to the server.

Power Apps Offline first with an internet connection: Data is downloaded to the device, and all changes are saved locally. Because there's an internet connection, the app automatically attempts to sync every few minutes.

Mobile offline for canvas apps (preview)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/mobile/canvas-mobile-offline-overview

Set up mobile offline for canvas apps (preview)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/mobile/canvas-mobile-offline-setup

Working with canvas apps offline (preview)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/mobile/canvas-mobile-offline-working

#PowerApps #Dataverse #PowerPlatform #CanvasApps #Offline

Table of Contents:
00:00 - Get started with Mobile Offline for Canvas Power Apps (preview)
00:40 - Mobile offline mode for Canvas Power Apps
01:20 - Enable Dataverse Tables for offline use
01:47 - Build a Canvas App with offline features
02:29 - Enable mobile offline features for PowerApps
03:57 - New mobile offline screen template for Canvas Apps
04:43 - Build offline Canvas App screens
07:49 - Test mobile offline on Power Apps Mobile App
09:27 - Test offline mode profile for Canvas App
10:00 - Power Apps offline app demo on Windows App
11:54 - Subscribe to Reza Dorrani Channel

🤝 Let’s connect on social:
🔗 Reza Dorrani LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rezadorrani/
🐦 Reza Dorrani Twitter: https://twitter.com/rezadorrani

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Hello, everyone Raza here in this video we will take a first look at the new mobile offline experience for canvas powerapps. With a few simple clicks. We can enable offline capabilities wherein we can work with our data with or without an internet connection, with simple configurations, a new screen template and in a matter of minutes we can create offline canvas apps. So let's check this out in action.

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We can now work with our canvas apps in offline mode. This is an offline first experience where we can work with our canvas PowerApp. Even when we don't have internet access, we can make changes to our data and once we are back online, it will automatically synchronize the data back to our data source.

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All the calls to dataverse data are executed against a local database, mirroring the dataverse server and are scoped to the need of the app to begin with. I have a table in dataverse called music instruments.

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I have some data in this table.

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I will head over to properties, Advanced options, and we need to ensure that the rows in this table can be taken. Offline and I will click save next I will create my canvas app. The app must be in a solution, so I'll head over to Solutions create a new solution.

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Give my solution a name pick a publisher and click create and in the solution. I will go ahead and create a new canvas. App I'll give my app a name pick. The format for the app I've picked phone and I will go ahead and click create go ahead and Save the PowerApp to leverage the new canvas offline feature set. We need to ensure that the app has a specific authoring version, so I'll go to settings, go to support app authoring version click edit, and we need to ensure that the authoring version is 3.23053 or greater.

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So I'll pick this one and click reload and apply.

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This will begin the process of reloading the edit experience for the PowerApp and once that is done, do go back and ensure that the authoring version is updated. If not, then reapply it once we have the correct authoring version applied, I can go to upcoming features, search for offline under experimental.

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We have dataverse offline, so I'll enable this I'll go back to General, and here we have a new option that says can be used. Offline I will turn this on, and it will do two things at this point one. It will automatically generate an offline profile for the app we can see. It says Auto generated so I'll close this and it will go ahead and create a screen based on a new template that the app will get and this template as an icon, whose icon property will change depending upon an object.

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That's available called connection if sync says connected meaning I'm connected to the internet, so it will display a specific icon.

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Also, if you select this icon, it once again leverages that connection dot, sync property, to give us details about the different types of values in connection sync, whether there are some pending updates to be synchronized and so and so forth, screen, one I will go ahead and delete so I'll leverage screen 2.

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As my Landing screen I'll give Name by updating the text for this label and, in the main section I would like to insert a gallery that is connected to my table, which is music instruments, so I'll select this the table is connected and the app and for this main section container I will insert a vertical gallery.

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There are certain things that are currently not supported. Images is one of them, so keep in mind for now ensure that you pick the layout as title and subtitle.

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My data source would be music instruments.

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I would like to show the name of the instrument show the price.

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Now, when the user selects this icon, I would like to allow the user to make changes to the data. I will go ahead and insert a new screen notice. If I go to templates, I will get a template for offline, so I will take advantage of that template and select this in the main container. For this screen, I will insert edit form control connect this to my data source, go to edit fields and I'll. Add the fields that I would like the user to make changes to name, price and type and for the item.

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Property of this form I will use Gallery dot selected. This is the gallery on my home screen.

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In this main, section container I will insert a button Center align it change its text to submit and on select I will go ahead and submit form and put in the name of the form control and when the form control submits successfully.

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I would like to navigate the user to my home screen, which is screen 2 in my case and from this specific screen. When the user clicks on this icon, all I have to do is navigate the user to my form screen, which is screen 3..

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So if I preview and let's say I pick piano here, I have the option to change the price change it from 200 to 500 click submit, and we can see the changes reflected now. This app is configured for offline, so I'll go ahead and click publish.

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Running powerapps on my mobile device and right at the top, is my app called music instruments. Now, if I click music instruments notice, the message it says at the bottom is getting the app ready for offline use. So this is the initial load of the PowerApp and, at the top I get a message that this app may be used without an internet connection.

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Now, at this point, if I do not have access to the internet notice, how I get a message that says no internet and this icon changes if I select it. It gives me the message that my device is not connected to the network, but I can keep using the app I'll select drums. It takes me to the form and let's make a change. I'll change. The price from 150 to 250.

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and I will submit drums value is 250. Even though I am offline, If You observe the icon. It's changed if I click that it says some data on your device must be synchronized with the server. So I need to reconnect to the network in order to synchronize.

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So when I am connected, the synchronization process will immediately start and observe at the bottom. It says reconnected.

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My device is connected to the network and it's gone ahead and synced the data back to the server.

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And offline, let's pick piano, let's change the price from 500 to 400, I'll submit I, have no internet and I have pending changes. Let's say: I close this app later on when I come back in network I will launch that app and when I do that it starts performing the sync. It's a Delta sync that takes place I have another solution, called contacts management that has a power app called contacts.

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This app is connected to the contact table, which has the can be taken offline feature active, the app authoring version is set, the offline feature is on can be taken offline on offline profile, Auto generated the form factor for this app is tablet here as well. We have the offline template.

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The app supports full crud operations. So, let's test this app in offline mode and I will run this in the powerapps app on desktop. So here's my app called contacts I'll select this notice. It's getting the app ready for offline use.

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I am connected to the internet, no internet connection. Now Rafael Nadal I'll edit and, let's say I change this department to HR I save. So that's an update.

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Smith, let's go ahead and delete and I'll go ahead and create a new record and I will submit so I have plenty of changes that I made. That must be synchronized with the server as soon as I go online.

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We can see the sync is currently in progress, so all those updates that I made is being synced and once it's successful, the icon changes back to connected.

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If you enjoyed this video, then do like comment and subscribe to my YouTube channel and thank you so much for watching.